Over 100 USA Softball members arrive in Oklahoma City for 2018 Junior Olympic Workshop

OKLAHOMA CITY — Over 100 USA Softball Junior Olympic (JO) Commissioners and other representatives from across the country arrive in Oklahoma City this weekend as preparations for the 2018 season and beyond continue during the 2018 JO Workshop. Sponsored by RPS Bollinger Insurance, members from the 69 USA Softball local associations will take part in a series of instructional and information sessions on youth softball hosted by the USA National Office.

Kicking off the two-day event are USA Softball President John Gouveia and Executive Director Craig Cress, who will welcome attendees to the biennial workshop and give opening remarks. Attendees will also be provided with a presentation by RPS Bollinger Insurance, the official insurance program of USA Softball.

Later in the day, Director of Umpires Kevin Ryan and Managing Director of Membership Rich Cress will speak on the 2018 Code and Rule changes that will affect the JO program, along with championship berth allocation. Additional training sessions include learning about SafeSport certification, recruiting and retaining umpires, and utilizing the online tournament site TournamentUSA.com. Other discussions involve the All-American Games, GOLD Program and JO Cup.

Friday evening concludes with a reception for the JO Years of Service awards, where recipients will be honored for their commitment and contributions to the USA Softball JO program.

The following individuals will be recognized for their years of service:

David Copeland - USA Softball of New York - 5 years

Jennifer Kowal - USA Softball of San Antonio - 5 years

Traci Spear - USA Softball of Kansas - 5 years

Wayne Straty - USA Softball of Houston - 5 years

Kimberly Swafford - USA Softball of Tennessee - 5 years

Brian Neuhardt - USA Softball of North Dakota - 5 years

Carolyn Shafer - USA Softball of Oklahoma - 5 years

John Muller - USA Softball of Philadelphia - 10 years

Ron Zimmerman - USA Softball of Iowa - 10 years

Dennis Troshak - USA Softball of Detroit - 25 years

Bruce Kaufmann - USA Softball of New Jersey - 35 years

Saturday afternoon features a series of breakout sessions covering a variety of topics, including rules forthe class C program, college exposure, website/social media ideas, and how to effectively write code/rule proposals. The JO Workshop concludes with an open discussion for all participants before attendees will be treated to a social dinner held at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex Fieldhouse.

The JO Workshop is held on a biennial basis and first began in the 1990s. Stay tuned to the USA Softball Facebook and Twitter pages for information and photo updates from the JO Workshop.

About USA SoftballUSA Softball is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 69 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 150,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2 million. USA Softball is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch. USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships. The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.

As the NGB for the sport of softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USA Softball, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit,www.USASoftball.com.